Project: Galaxies
by foreverabard
Summary: A team of Jedi set out in a starship crafted to explore past the boundaries of the universe...but due to a malfunction, they crash-land on a strange planet called Earth. Rated "T" for some language and violence. And bad humor attempts. XD
1. Project: Galaxies

**Alright, here goes…again. I tried to put this up long ago, but I decided that it sucked, and therefore removed it from the internet. I did that because the introduction sucked. So, here it is. This time, I swear to God I am not removing this. I was scared of criticism before, but now I say screw it.**

**I'd appreciate it if you don't flame if you decide to review it, but if my writing sucks that badly, then…actually, then piss off. We don't allow your kind in this restaurant. I also realized this is labeled under "Humor" and that it may not be all that humorous, but oh well.**

**But, seriously. Read and review, people.**

**This story is mainly OC's, with references to characters from the "Expanded Universe" storyline, I believe it is called.**

**Enough talk. Let's do this thing.**

It was done.

After years of labor, pain, and a few "minor" favors that he probably would not talk about ever again, he had completed it.

His prized starship. A very unique starship. Unique in the fact that it could travel to different galaxies, a technology that to his knowledge had never before been possible.

At least, he hoped.

Having devoted most of his time to developing this ship, Strel Harth wasn't exactly the ideal Jedi. He knew the basic forms and could hold his own for a little while in a firefight, but the other apprentices in his year were incredibly far ahead of him. Strel was more of a technical guy, so he spent most of his time in his room tinkering with stuff while everyone else was actually developing their skills. Whenever he attended a lesson, he was spacey and always focused on something else. Strel was surprised he had managed to pull off the whole "Jedi" thing for as long as he had.

But now he had an opportunity to prove his worth to Skywalker. If this ship actually managed to travel between galaxies, this would revolutionize technology across the galaxy, and possibly ensure that the Jedi and the New Republic could expand their horizons to new universes and promote peace and justice throughout it!

Of course, the fame didn't hurt, either.

_Well_, thought Strel, _I guess the only thing left to do is to get approval from Master Skywalker and hope that this works out. _Strel, almost bouncing with excitement, went to go get his "approval".

* * *

A figure in a black robe stood at the doorway of Strel Harth's quarters. With a mere motion of his hand, the door slid open and the figure walked in. Another wave and the door shut and locked itself. The figure turned and examined the room he was in. The place was a mess. Junk and half-broken equipment lay scattered about the room before him. The only evidence that this was a bedroom was the cot laid against the far wall.

But the man wasn't here to be a mother and complain that Strel needed to clean his room. He was here for something. _And_, the figure thought, feeling small emanations coming from his left, _that something shouldn't be too hard to find_. The man walked over to a desk where a mess of papers littered the surface of the desk. He pulled back his hood to examine it better.

_Bingo._

Amidst piles of poor sketches, photographs, and sheets of writing (perhaps imagined perceptions of life on different planets), there lay a pile of neatly organized and stacked papers. One look told the man all he needed to know. He pulled a small device from a pocket in his robe and began methodically scanning the surface of each individual paper.

_Boring work_, he thought to himself, _but it will be worth it once I get these to my Master_.

* * *

"No."

"What? But why?"

Luke Skywalker shook his head. "The Jedi Order is already in a state of disrepair. We are trying to rebuild it after the devastation that my father and the Empire caused to the galaxy. Jedi are low in number and not sufficiently trained to do this sort of "project." But here is a man trying to tell me that he has built a ship that can take people across galaxies, and that he wants to leave us at a critical moment, and you expect me to approve this sort of thing?" Luke put his hand on Strel's shoulder. "If this does go awry, we would lose another one of our number at one of our most critical moments, and I do not wish to see you dead."

Strel hung his head. _This _was _a terrible idea all along_. "I'm sorry, Master. I didn't realize the implications of this sort of thing."

From out of nowhere a female voice cut into the conversation. "Master Skywalker, you are making a mistake by doing this!"

Strel turned in surprise and watched as another Jedi walked into the room. He recognized her from training; she was one of the reasons he couldn't concentrate during the lessons. _Oh no. What was her name again?...something Arren, but I can't place it!_ Her emerald eyes met his quickly and she nodded politely before turning back to Luke, saving Strel the embarrassment of having spoken.

"This could be one of the most beneficial things that may ever happen to us! If Strel is right, which I'm confident he is (the statement made Strel's face go crimson), then just think of what would result! We would be able to spread a good influence in farther places than anyone could fathom before! Think about it!" she finished.

Luke contemplated the idea for a few moments. "Kira (_aha! _thought Strel), I know you have good intentions by siding with Strel, but you have to reali-"

"I know you are concerned by what might happen to him, but again, think! What is reward without a little bit of risk?"

This made Luke seriously think about what she was saying. After another few awkward minutes for Strel, he made his decision. "Well…I don't like to say it, but you are right. I feel we should do this."

Strel did a mental backflip, and barely restrained himself from doing a real one. Instead, he twitched slightly, which made Luke and Kira glance at him quizzically.

"However," Luke said, speaking to Strel, "I'm not going to let you do this alone. If we are to undertake this, you are going to need backup, of a sort. You need someone to go with you. We need to figure out who is willing to volunteer for this sort of thing," he thought aloud, rubbing his chin.

"How about me?" Kira offered, stepping forward slightly. "I'm not trying to brag, but I am one of the better apprentices here. I know 'better' is a bad word to use in this context, but…you've commented on my prowess, Master, and I think that this would be an excellent way to test that. I personally think that I, and Strel, are ready to go out on our own, and this is what we want to do. It would be a new experience, for me and Strel, and a great opportunity to learn," she finished, taking a breath.

"All right. You can go with Strel," Luke said, smiling. "Strel, I also think your brother, Arias, would be up for this sort of task. He is definitely the adventurous sort."

Strel grinned. "We've already discussed this. He'd love to go."

Luke nodded. "Then that is settled. I don't want to risk losing more Jedi, but this would be good for all of you. Strel, get Arias, and meet me and Kira in my chambers in roughly an hour. We'll discuss the plans for the trip at length there. You are dismissed."

"Yes, Master," Strel said, bowing slightly. Luke turned and walked out of the room. Kira looked at Strel, smiled, and did the same. Strel waited until they were gone, then turned and sprinted for his brother's room. _It worked out after all! I get to go be the captain of my own galaxy-traveling starship, and-Kira's coming! I guess my luck is finally changing!_

Strel arrived at the entrance to his brother's room and knocked twice. He had to tell Arias about..._what should I call this? _As he heard footsteps coming to the door, he thought, _Project: Galaxies will do for now._


	2. The Storybook Theory

**Second chapter is up. As always, read and review. Seriously.**

**Disclaimer: Did I put this in first chapter? I'll assume not. I do not own Star Wars.**

**And for the record, I threw Luke in because…hell, I wanted it to appear more…Star Warsy. It didn't work. So, screw that idea. Luke's out of the picture. I'll have the revised chapter up later (I probably won't, because procrastination is a b****), but in the meanwhile…here's the second.**

"Are we there yet?"

Strel turned from the navicomputer and stared at his brother, Arias, with an exhausted look on his face. "We've been at this for months! We're almost in a new galaxy! What, did you think we'd just be there in time for breakfast? Even at lightspeed, this is going to take a while!"

Arias stood up. "Fine then. I'm getting something to eat, now that you mentioned food." And with that, he walked out of the cockpit.

Strel swiveled back to face the computer, trying to ignore the footsteps that he heard. _If Arias says anything else I am gonna punch him in th-_

"How're we doing?" came a female voice from the entrance.

Doing a double-take, Strel turned yet again to face Kira, who was resting against the wall.

"We're…uh, doing…fine. We should be leaving this galaxy within the next few hours." Strel rotated his chair to its original position. "I have no idea what this is going to be like, so you should prepare for the worst."

"Wait a minute…" Kira said. "How do you even determine the borders of a galaxy? It's just…space."

"I don't know. I guess we just go until we see a planet we don't recognize. I did my history. We'll be fine."

Kira shook her head. "I guess so. Still, it's strange. It's almost like we're in some story, and the writer is just killing time until the good part comes along."

Strel chuckled softly. "Yeah. Sure. What're the odds of that? And besides, if we were in a story, then shortly after this conversation our ship would have problems so that there'd be something more interesting than many months of sitting on a ship with nothing to do besides write about romantic tensions in the air!"

"Romantic tensions?" Kira lifted an eyebrow.

_Oh, damn. Did I just say romantic tensions? _"I mean…um…"

All of a sudden the ship shook violently, throwing Kira and Strel around the cockpit.

"What the hell is going on? Exiting hyperspace…" Strel got up shakily and hit a switch and watched out the observation window as a blue and green planet materialized below.

Arias sprinted into the cockpit. "I don't know how the hell this happened, but we hit a meteor at lightspeed!"

Strel and Kira gaped at him. Then Kira shook her head.

"How the hell are we not dead if we hit in while we were in blazing hyperspace?"

Arias looked out towards the right wing, or what used to be a wing. "It looks like we…just grazed it. Still, that did lots of damage. We can't go any further!"

"Dammit! Fine, then. Kira, Arias, you know about the emergency systems on this ship, go activate them! Then get a rebreather mask and get to a shielded area! We're crash landing!"

Kira looked at Strel. "What'd I say about the bad story theory?"

"NO TIME! GO!" Strel cried as he sat down and started to fly through the thin grey fog that was obscuring his vision. He grabbed a mask from a compartment above and focused on the task before him.

_Let's do this._

_Breathe in. Blink. Breathe out. Blink. Breathe in. Bli-wait!_

Strel opened his eyes to find himself staring at a blue expanse before him. He tried to summon the will to move his arm, but failed. Pain shot through his body and made him gasp in agony. _Damn, I think it's broken._ With all of the strength he possessed, he called out faintly to his companions. "Kira…Arias…" then surrendered himself to darkness.

"Oh, Christ, he's up?"

He opened his eyes and found himself looking at what appeared to be a flat ceiling or wall the color of rusted durasteel. The first thing he noticed after that was that the pain in his arm had lessened since his last visit to consciousness.

"Who?..."

"Let me give you something…there we go!" a voice exclaimed as a sharp object briefly punctured Strel's skin. Almost immediately the rest of the pain went away. Strel sat up quickly, wincing as a headache made itself present in his mind. He turned gingerly towards where the voice had come from. What looked like a human male, roughly forty standard years old, sat down in a wooden chair across the room.

"There you are! I've been wondering when you'd lift your head again. To be honest, I thought you were dead for sure. Whatever it is, it's good to see you up, stranger."

"You…speak my language? What are you?" Strel asked weakly, still not used to these strange circumstances.

The figure laughed heartily. "Where did you come from, a different galaxy? Yes, I speak you're language, because I'm a human, like I hope you are!"

"So…humans live on this world, too?"

The man stared quizzically at Strel. "Yeah…of course. That fall you took must have done some memory damage, too. You've been out for weeks; I thought stuff like that would come back, but then again, you took a bad fall. At least you didn't get disabled in any way."

_Humans on this world that speak the language I do. How convienient. Maybe Kira knew what she was talki-_ "Kira!" Strel stood up quickly and nearly fell as his legs about gave way.

"You mean your lady friend? Don't worry. She'll be fine. She's in the next room. She took a lot more damage than you in the fall, but she's a survivor, that one. My wife's tending to her now. I'm surprised either of you are alive considering the burning wreckage I had to pull you from."

Strel stared at him. "Uh…thanks, I guess. Where's Arias?"

"Who?"

"There was another man on the ship. He's my brother."

The man shook his head. "Sorry, buddy, but I didn't find anyone else there with you."

Strel rubbed his eyes. _I land on a new planet and it greets me by killing my brother. Sorry for doing this to do, Arias._ Strel allowed himself a moment of grief, then focused again on his surroundings.

"Oh, never got a chance to introduce myself. The name's Kyle Kristoph, and my wife is Jenna. You are?..."

"Strel Harth."

Kyle nodded. "Pleased to meet you. Now…if I may ask a few questions?,,,"

Strel cautiously nodded as well. "Sure."

Kyle asked, "What exactly were you doing in that deathtrap of a flying thing, and what is it? Where are you from?"

"Well…I constructed a starship that could take me across galaxies, which it seems to have succeeded in doing, and I had to crash land on this planet. Speaking of which…where are we?"

Kyle guffawed madly. "I see, I see. I know sarcasm when I see it. No questions for now. Although you dress and act strangely enough to be from another planet. As for where we are…well, bud, have you heard of New York City?"

A tall, attractive woman entered the room, looked at Strel, and smiled. "Hey, there, finally up? Good to hear. I'm Jenna. I felt I should tell you that girl in there is ready for a visitor. I'm guessing your name is Strel, because she's been mentioning him for a long while. Girlfriend?"

Strel smiled sheepishly. _I wish. _"I'll go see her." With that said, he slowly and carefully entered the next room. Kira was resting on a thin white cot. She looked up at him and smiled weakly. "Rise and shine, sleepyhead. Good to see you."

With a nervous smile, Strel pulled up a chair and sat down next to the bed. "How are you?"

"Well, my head and legs hurt like hell, but I can walk without screaming in pain, so I guess that's a step. Where did we land?"

"It's called New York City. I'm guessing it's like Coruscant, being a city that stretches across the entire planet, from what I can see from the window. Shouldn't have too much difficulty adjusting."

Kira shifted to a more comfortable position. "Well, tomorrow we should scout out the nearby area. Where is Arias?"

Strel looked down with a melancholy look on his face. "He's dead. Kyle didn't see him at the ship."

Kira's face took on a sad look, and she reached for Strel's hand. "I'm sorry, Strel." He looked up and smiled sadly but gratefully. "Well, we're here, so we should make plans to head out. Arias would have been the first out the door. It's a small mercy the planet is hospitable. Does that sound like a plan?"

"Yeah."

Strel stood up. "Alright. I'll come visit you again later. Right now I need to sleep again. My head feels like it's been ripped in half at the moment."

Kira smiled and nodded. "Will do. See you then."

Strel turned and walked out of the room. He laid on his cot and closed his eyes. The last thought he had before sleep took him was, _I could be in a worse spot._


	3. The Big Apple

**XD At the very least, three people like my story. That's good. Well, regardless, I'll keep doing this, unless I get massive hate.**

**So, again, read and review. Please. I want to know what I can do to improve as a writer.**

"This is a very unimpressive city."

Kira sighed, turned to Strel, and looked at him with exasperation. "There are no flying vehicles, nor any Jedi, or practically anything else we have on Coruscant. Still, it's better than what we could have hoped for in a crash landing on an alien world."

Strel shook his head slowly. "I'm still not convinced." Then he smiled. "Well, at least we have an advantage over other people here," he said, putting a hand on the lightsaber attached to his belt.

"Why are you suspicious? Who would want to betray us, if they don't know us?"

"I don't know. But I'm wary nonetheless."

Kira turned her head away, trying to change the subject. "So…this is Times Square…the heart of this 'New York City?'"

"Flashing lights aren't all that impressive. I've seen better. But-" he added, glancing at Kira, "it's _gotta _be a marvel of technology compared to what some of these people have seen."

_Indeed it seems like it,_ Strel observed,_ seeing all the people here. But why are they all…human?_

"Don't ask me, Strel."

Strel faced her. "How did you know I was thinking that?"

Kira raised an eyebrow. "Thinking? You said that out loud! Loud enough to get people around us to look at you-" she smiled, "like you're not from this galaxy.

"Ha ha, ha ha," Strel sarcastically replied. "Are you hungry? I'm starving."

Kira nodded. "Yeah, kind of. Where should we stop?"

Strel glanced around. They were out of Times Square and into an area he didn't recognize. "I don't know. Let's see if this 'Macy's' has any food."

The two walked into a towering building-or at least, Strel tried to. He stepped back, startled, as the doors didn't open automatically. With a slight bump on his head, he turned to face a laughing Kira and said, "There goes that plan."

Kira wiped a tear from her eye. "Where's this Jedi observation of yours? All you need to do is-" and walked at the door. With a slight push, the door rotated and allowed Kira in. Through the glass, she mouthed, "This."

Strel carefully pushed his way through, avoiding the stares of people around him. With an embarrassed glance at Kira, he said, "Let's see what they have, hm?"

They went up to a man with a small bottle in his hand. "Excuse me, do you know where we can get a bite to eat in this store?"

The man glared at Strel as if he were insane. "There's a McDonald's on one of the top floors, pal."

Strel smiled politely. "Thanks."

As he walked away, the man muttered under his breath, "Dumbass."

Strel ignored him.

A moving staircase was in front of them. Strel observed a sign on an extension in the wall. "Well, from what I can gather, which is nothing, we should go…up?

And that they did.

Eventually they got off on a floor with a McDonald's clearly visible. Strel turned and remarked, "Well, that wasn't so hard, was it?"

Kira sighed tiredly. "We've been at this for roughly an hour. Of course it wasn't hard."

"Never mind then. We might have to wait a little longer." Strel pointed towards the large line of people in front of the counter.

After fifteen minutes of waiting (semi) patiently, they got up to the counter.

Strel took the initiative. "Yes…I would like…that." He pointed at the sign.

The cashier looked over his shoulder a few times. "Um…what?"

Strel tried again. "The thing with the…meat…in the middle…and the…bread?..."

"Thanks, buddy, that helps. Look, guy, we got a line, so make a decision quick, or we've gotta kick you out."

Strel cried, "That first thing on the menu!"

The cashier sighed in relief. "One Big Mac meal? Alright. That'll be…six dollars and twenty-seven cents, please."

Strel checked his pockets. "How much is that in credits?"

The cashier gaped at him? "What, are you from Star Wars? Gimme six dollars or get the hell out!"

Kira nudged Strel out of the way and placed a few green slips of paper on the counter. "You'll have to excuse us for that. My friend here is slightly…disabled. Here's your money."

A hand reached out, grabbed the money, and put it in a machine. "Thank you. Your order is thirty-four."

Kira took Strel by the hand and let him away. Immediately Strel turned on her. "Disabled?" he whispered angrily. "What, am I to go around as a retarded man from now on?"

Kira couldn't retort back, for a call of "Thirty-four!" came from the counter. "Excuse me," she said, and left. She came back thirty minutes later with a tray of food.

"Excellent." Strel sat down. "Thanks." He opened his wrapper to find a very poor version of what he had seen on the menu. He warily took a bite of it. After a thoughtful minute of chewing, he commented, "Well, at least it's better than the junk that comes out of the synthesizer."

"True." Kira took another bite.

All of a sudden Strel's head pounded. He shook his head and got up. _What? The Force…is…disrupted?_

Kira looked at him nervously. "Did you feel that?"

"Yeah. This could be bad." As casually as he could, he made his way to the window and looked out. There seemed to be nothing but a stampede of humans making their way down the street; but Strel's refined senses caught onto a suspicious-looking figure in a black robe, blending into the people.

"Kira?"

"Yeah?"

"We need to go. Now."

Kira stood up. "Then let's not waste any time. What did you see?"

Strel only shook his head as he sprinted to the stairs. "I have a bad feeling we've been followed…"

* * *

The assassin Vasirai stood among a throng of people in Times Square, waiting for the right time to make his move. He had promised his master a Sith conquest of the alien planet, and he was about to make good on that promise. _Time to show these puny beings the true power of the Force._

Standing on neon red bleachers and amplifying his voice with the Force to almost an ear-shattering level, he cried out, "People of this great city, I hereby issue you a warning; run, and you may be spared!"

A man next to him took his hands away from his ears and asked to a woman next to him, "Is this a movie filming?"

The assassin turned to the man, smiled, and replied, "You tell me, friend." And with blinding speed, he grabbed the man by the throat, spun, and hurled him into an advertisement for what looked like a fountain drink. The man hit the sign and almost exploded as electricity coursed through his body and he was fried in an instant.

"Holy Christ!" the woman cried as she attempted to run, before Vasirai gestured with his hand and she met the same fate as the man before.

He turned to the stunned mass of people before him, shrugged, and remarked, "You were warned."

Everybody simultaneously screamed and ran. The assassin smiled. This was his idea of fun. Raising his hands over-dramatically, he raised two vehicles with the Force and threw them into the crowd at roughly terminal velocity. The resulting impact exploded the car and about a thousand other people, clearing a burning walkway for the assassin to walk through.

He reached onto his belt and extracted his lightsaber. Igniting it, he flourished in a traditional Djem So style as a lethal bar of crimson plasma extended from his wrist.

"Fire!" cried a male voice, and the Force guided his blade to intercept and return the bullets being fired at him-

Only they didn't return to the officers, instead disintegrating on contact as the small bullets of lead met with the blade of his lightsaber. Stunned for a second, that could have been the end of Vasirai, but his reflexes saved him. Aided by the speed of the Force, he rolled forward, avoiding the bullets.

"What? What happened! Keep firing, dammit! Kill the man!" cried what looked to be the chief of security. A flash of red and that problem was taken care of as the man fell to the ground with a small hole in his head.

Vasirai brought his lightsaber up to guard. "You sure you don't want to think this through?"

The remaining men confirmed that.

Three seconds later, they were dead.

Vasirai stood taller than ever, a surge of power coursing through his veins. _No one will stop me. This is too easy._

All of a sudden Vasirai was knocked away from the corpses by a massive force, and he found himself laying on the ground. He jumped up quickly and turned toward where the push had come from. He found himself looking at two Jedi, lightsabers out and at a guard.

"So," he said, giving a quick flourish, "the Jedi survived?" He smiled with malicious intent. "I intend to correct that problem."

* * *

Strel observed the black figure before him through the cross of his blue and violet blades. "Who the hell are you?"

"Who I am is not important." The man didn't move an inch.

"Then how did you get to this planet?"

The figure shook its head and spoke in a teasing voice. "Now, now, that's a secret I cannot reveal." A black flash came across Strel's vision, and where Kira once was was the robed figure, standing casually. Kira, however, was flying towards the unforgiving walls of a building. Strel dived out of the way as the figure lunged and used the Force to slow Kira's impact-he hoped.

The man spoke again. "And if I leave you two alive, you might figure it out yourself," he stated, stepping forward in time with the words. Strel could do nothing but get into a defensive position and wait for an attack.

And then hell broke loose.

The figure lunged, almost invisible to Strel's eye. Only through sheer luck did he raise his blades quick enough to deflect the initial assault. With each step, the man put more pressure into his attacks-it was all Strel could do to not trip and stumble as he retreated through the streets and swarming people. Lightsaber blades met with a crackling hiss as the assassin flurried and then struck at Strel's head. Strel met the blade with one of his own and tried to strike at the man's legs. The man stopped for a second, giving a pause in the action. In those few seconds, Strel had almost lost, and he was out of breath and tired. The man, however, had seemingly lost nothing due to fatigue.

* * *

"Finally, a strike against me? I respect you a little more. Still, however powerful you are, you will be slaughtered. Your female friend didn't stand a chance against me, so what makes you think you will? You are weak and pathetic, and soon, will be dec-"

He was interrupted as a brown boot met squarely with his face and he stumbled back. He looked up, snarling, to meet stares with the Jedi, lightsabers at the ready, angrily glaring at him.

"Don't you even-dare mention her! I'll kill you!"

The Jedi was almost boiling with rage. _Perfect. Angry Jedi don't put up much of a fight._

"What happened to the Jedi way of pacifism and peace?" he teased, pointing his lightsaber at the Jedi. "I thought you had more self-control than that! But, seriously, show me your best moves. Use your rage to strike me down. You can do it!" he exclaimed, provoking the Jedi, twisting him around his finger.

* * *

"The Sith deserve their death for all of the destruction and hatred they bring to the galaxy!" Strel cried, jumping into combat and going on the attack. It looked like Strel was doing well as he attacked using everything the Jedi had taught him. He struck with a lightning-fast flurry of blows, trying to trip this man, aiming for both the head and the legs, coming in from two sides at once, and anything else he could think of.

_Anything to pay the bastard back for what he did to her._

Then Strel overswiped, not caring what he did through the red veil of rage that was obscuring his vision. He tried to correct himself, but the assassin chopped down and made contact with Strel's arm. He screamed in agony as white bone protruded from his forearm and sunk to the ground. With nothing more than a thought, the assassin Force-pushed him against the wall, almost breaking Strel's back. Helpless, he could only watch as the assassin lept in for the kill, blade aimed at Strel's chest-

And then the assassin was gone, apparently knocked out of the way by-

"Kira!"

Kira grabbed his good arm. "There's no time-we have to get out of here! Run!"

Together, they sprinted for the only sanctuary they knew in the city.

* * *

"Blast!"

Vasirai struck down a man running away with his lightsaber, venting his anger on the people of the city.

_They got away from me!_

The Force pounded through his body, and he released it in the form of white-blue lighting that dropped many civilians to the ground, twitching and screaming in blinding pain.

And many people would die until his anger died out. And maybe a few after that.

* * *

"Easy, there."

Jenna had wasted all of her anesthetic trying to knock Strel out, and had put him in an improvised cast for the moment until real medical help could arrive.

"How're you doing, Strel?" Kira's face was filled with worry.

Strel tried to smile. "Well, my arm hurts like hell…"

Kira shook her head. "Only you, I guess."

Strel laid his head back on the pillow. "Thanks for saving me…I thought you had died…"

"Well, I've come to like you over the course of this adventure so far, Strel," she said. She took his hand and added, "And I'm not about to let someone I care for die."

Strel smiled and closed his eyes. Kira stammered out, "Not, uh, like that…I mean…"

But Strel was apparently asleep.

Kira stood up and avoided Jenna's knowing smile as she headed to her room.


End file.
